The administration of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will finally begin making payments worth Rs9.6 billion to its employees under the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) from next week – at least that’s what it is saying – but only after delaying this matter long enough for it to be dragged into court as well. It turns out that the airline suspended medical facilities for all employees that opted for this scheme from December 31, but then failed to meet its commitment of clearing VSS dues by January 31. Resulting uncertainty and financial constraints have so far taken the lives of two employees, which adds to the heavy baggage that the airline already carries. There are also reports that employees were quite literally intimidated into taking this scheme after facing threats of transfers and dislocations. As a result, about 2,000 have availed the VSS so far.

It goes without saying that the national flag carrier is in dire straits. When this government came to power it talked about forming a holding company to isolate losses from the books of all State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) including PIA, but most likely found unnecessary leakages so large that it decided to go for privatisation instead, just like its predecessor PML-N. But while that is where the debate has more or less stalled, the airline’s losses continue to mount. In only the first nine months of the last year it reported losses worth more than Rs40 billion. And the fact that it has hemorrhaged more than Rs500 billion in just the last 15 years, as the national assembly was briefed recently, says it all. Something must also be said about the international humiliation that PIA has brought to Pakistan. When its aircraft were refused American and European airspace for not complying with international safety standards and then the fake license controversy, and the way one of its planes was impounded in Malaysia over non-payment of its lease, the whole nation faced embarrassment and shame, which is simply unacceptable.

Even for privatisation to become a serious option the airline would first have to be turned around. For the kind of price it would fetch in its present condition would amount to literally throwing out the family silver. That is why the government is encouraged to press ahead with management restructuring even as it explores the finer details of attracting buyers. One of the biggest problems with all SOEs, that they have been stuffed with incompetent and corrupt political appointees for far too long, should not be too hard to correct. The main focus must now be on getting the right people at strategic positions who can then execute a staffing overhaul in line with the government’s requirements. Then, when it is in efficient working condition, putting it on the market would make a lot more sense not only from the airline’s point of view, but also the government’s own reserves.

Published in Daily Times Feb 20, 2021